Nocturne
by Chibizoo
Summary: When Yuugi, a slave bound by darkness, is forced between the lines of loyalty and freedom, he must make a choice that will shatter his identity. AU, a subsiduary arc of "Club 0013"
1. Default Chapter

Author's notes:   
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh.   
  
Well, here is the side arc to Club 0013, kind of like a subsidiary story to the former   
(an AU of an AU!). This will be my "test fic", something I might drop on a moment's   
notice. We'll see how it goes.   
  
Warnings: Shortness. A lack of ideas near the end.   
  
***********************************  
  
The world began with a bang. From the depths of ignorance rose the humans,   
beings with superior intelligence and skill. They climbed to the top of the food chain,   
evolving into species of perfection.   
  
Not anymore.   
  
Fear the Others.   
  
*******************************  
  
Nocturne  
  
  
Prologue – C minor  
  
  
The sky was on fire.   
  
Everywhere, the brilliant orange-yellow flames flickered and danced hungrily.   
They roared, sweeping across the cluttered shelters in a voracious path of destruction,   
arcing bestial wings in a mask of triumph.   
  
Plumes of dark smoke erupted into the air, flagging the sky a shadowy   
ominous warning. And writhing and coiling around the labyrinth of flames were   
thousands upon thousands of moving figures. They screamed in terror, streaming like   
dark water around the flames, trying to avoid the intense heat and muffling smoke   
while the buildings around them buckled and shook dangerously. Some of these   
people were gathered in clumps or pairs, the younger children clinging tightly to their   
parents as they sought to escape this inferno. Mothers and infants alike wailed in   
despair, ashen faces white with terror. They flinched whenever a burning skeletal   
building buckled uncertainly or when a passing lock of fire shot its tongue too close to   
them to taste the bitter night air.   
  
No one was safe inside this man-made Hell. The flames were growing rapidly,   
enclosing the escapees in its jaws of intense death. Now, the humans were growing   
desperate, pushing, pulling, struggling against each other aggressively to escape the   
flames. There was a single tide of fear, of a desperate need for survival that washed   
across all their faces. They shoved, tearing against the prison of the flames, seeking   
for any exit away from the infernal labyrinth.   
  
She ran, greyed hair scattered across her face, one hand clenched to a trailing   
figure behind her. Others were gushing around her, wedging her into a bubble against   
the sea of bodies. With as much effort as her petite body could give, she heaved   
against the tides, parting the scattered people, squeezing through the tightly crowded   
bodies while always dragging the figure behind her.   
  
She saw it. There, past the final dregs of burning buildings was the exit. Just a   
few more steps and she – they – would be home free! For a fleeting moment, she   
allowed a sigh of relief, turning around to face the other, hands still tightly clenched.   
"You okay, honey?" She whispered as soothingly as possible, violet eyes reflecting   
concern.  
  
The other was indeed a child, large face contorted in an all too readable   
expression of panic. His fair skin was covered in ashen-black soot, and his lips had   
cracked from the intense heat, so that a split of blood red trickled slowly down his   
blackened chin. "Mother, I-I'm scared." He whimpered, lip trembling just slightly. A   
few droplets of tears escaped from his large amethyst eyes. "D-don't leave me."  
  
At this remark, the mother's eyes softened. She wrapped her arms around the   
child, letting him bury his head against her chest. Slowly, she stroked his back,   
pressing her face against his soft, jagged hair. "We're almost there, Yuugi." She   
soothed, squeezing the boy in a reassuring hug. "Just a few more steps and we'll be   
okay."  
  
The flames still danced around the pair, reflecting off the boy's eyes in   
serrated glowing facets. He nodded, parting hesitantly from his mother's grasp. "Let's   
go." He did his best to keep his childish voice from trembling. "I don't want to stay   
here any longer."  
  
She nodded, ready to lead her son to sanctity. Already, a large crowd was   
gathering at the other end, peering at the destructive mass with relieved eyes. Soon,   
they would join the crowd.   
  
Or so she had thought.   
  
It only took a split second to make the difference. The burning building beside   
the pair suddenly began to shudder dangerously. Large beams jutting from the sides of   
the building crackled like battered torches. In a shriek of light and grinding sound, the   
building suddenly collapsed, falling into a chaotic whirl of ashes and flickering   
flames. The beams, no longer supported, tottered precariously before breaking apart   
from the main support, launching themselves onto the bare ground below.   
  
The mother was the first to notice. With no more than a strangled cry, she   
wrenched her child away from the falling beams of burning wood. The planks hit the   
ground with a resounding whumph, breaking into sizeable chunks of charred splinters.   
Reflexively, the mother wrapped her body over her child's, blocking him from any   
damage.   
  
Like a startling domino effect, the other houses began to shudder in   
omniscient warning. Seconds later, they too began to crumble, collapsing onto the   
ground with horrendous roars, spewing out dregs of flame and burning ashes. The   
darkness around the pair was suddenly covered in a thick cloud of dust and ashes,   
glowing slightly with half-alive flames. Overwhelmed by a sickening urge of fear, the   
mother grabbed her child, plunging through the thicket of dust. She ignored her   
watering eyes, trying to vainly navigate across the clouded spaces towards the exit.   
Where was it? It had been so close!  
  
Yuugi coughed as he inhaled the ashes and dust, involuntarily bringing a hand   
to wipe his stinging eyes. The muffling atmosphere was choking him. Tendrils of   
smoke wrapped around his lungs and eyes until everything was an indiscernible blurry   
mess. He clenched his hand tightly with his mother's, trying to follow her tugging   
pulls. With every step, his grip loosened, muscles quivering in protest to the lack of   
oxygen. He needed to breathe!  
  
Another charred beam suddenly shot from the sky, a projectile headed directly   
for the struggling pair. Filled with only blind terror, Yuugi panicked, running away   
from the flaming plank as fast as his legs could carry him. Seconds later, the beam hit   
the ground, shooting another plume of jet-black ashes, and gratefully, a small pocket   
of air. Yuugi inhaled the hair greedily, coughing seconds later when he sucked up a   
lungful of scattered ashes. Choking, the boy rubbed his eyes, sticking out a free hand   
to try to blindly navigate against the smoke.   
  
Only then did he realize something. The boy's eyes shot wide in pure panic.   
"Mother!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, taking in another gasp of air. He   
inhaled only smoke, suddenly breaking into a fit of violent coughs. He tried again, but   
it came out in a weak, pathetic gasp. "Mother!"  
  
Whumph. A piece of concrete had fallen onto the ground near the boy,   
shoving the air forcefully around it. In that single moment of clean air, Yuugi saw the   
vague outline of his mother, searching around desperately in the flames, shrilly crying   
out his name. The boy immediately began running towards her figure, coughing up   
smoke and dust as he struggled to reach the other.   
  
"Mother!" He screamed again, lunging towards her frantic image-  
  
- and was suddenly blocked by a falling projectile. It hit the ground startlingly   
close to the boy, bursting like an over-ripe fruit into a million splinters. Yuugi   
managed a muffled cry as some of the charred wood struck and buried into his flesh,   
others brandishing his skin with burning pain.   
  
He coughed again, curling into a fetal ball, trying to block the dizzying pain.   
Another beam collided with the ground, and he feebly looked up, expecting to see the   
outline of his mother.   
  
There was no one.   
  
His eyes wildly scanned the last moments of clear air in pure desperation.   
  
She was gone.   
  
She had left him.   
  
Globs of tears pooled around his eyes. His mother had disappeared. His   
mother had left him!   
  
It was too much for his childish brain to acknowledge. The boy broke into a   
solo of strangled cries, tears dribbling freely down his face. His voice rose and fell in   
the muffled silence, an eerie tone against the consistent roaring of burning flames.   
  
It was all over. He would die. He was alone and helpless.   
  
From the roaring background emerged a series of steadily growing clicks.   
They were the tapping of firm shoes against the ground, beating in a plain, staccato   
rhythm.   
  
Startled, Yuugi looked up and around, trying to locate the source. He sniffled,   
wiping his tear-stained eyes. "Mother?" The boy asked, tone rising for one hopeful,   
expectant moment.   
  
But the other was not his mother. It was a tall man, garbed in a crimson-red   
suit. The person trod deliberately, almost blithely unaware of the wreckage around   
him. Tendrils of flames quivered in the background, illuminating his figure in an   
impressive swathe of golden-orange.   
  
Yuugi backed away from the advancing figure, suddenly scared. His large   
violet eyes stared balefully into the calm ones of the other. "W-who are you?" More   
tears trickled down his face. "Where's my mom?"  
  
And then, the handsome man's placid face broke into a charming smile,   
partially revealing twin incisored canines, eerily unnatural. One of his eyes lay hidden   
underneath a veil of silvery-white hair, though he was by no means aged or even as   
old as Yuugi's mother. His other eye flashed sadistically. "Your mother abandoned   
you." He exclaimed, smooth alto oddly soothing. "She gave up on you."  
  
The boy's eyes widened first in disbelief and then anger. "Liar!" He screamed,   
shouting his frustration, venting his rage towards the other. The smoke around him   
had cleared, so that his voice rang loudly in the still air. "My mother would never   
leave me! She _promised_ me!"  
  
The handsome man only tsk-tsked, shaking his head sadly in a condescending   
manner. "Poor little Yuugi." He commented, voice pleasantly sympathizing. "How   
does it feel to be left alone, abandoned, knowing that no one cares for you?"  
  
Yuugi backed away angrily. "It's not true!" He vented. "You're lying!" Who   
was this strange person anyway? And why was this person here?   
  
Yet, a part of him didn't want this person to leave; this strange man in front of   
him was all that Yuugi had.   
  
The man seemed to be hurt. "Well, if you hate me so much, then I'll just go." He stated, suddenly pivoting away.   
  
"No!" The word escaped the boy's mouth even before he realized it. Then, the   
final, actual truth dawned on him. Yuugi bowed his head in defeat, lowering his gaze   
to the ground. "Please, d-don't leave me."  
  
And the man seemed to be genuinely touched. He turned around, kneeling   
down to comfort the small boy. "Of course I wouldn't leave you." He whispered in   
the boy's ear, voice soothing and slightly hypnotic. "You are a special boy, Yuugi. I   
understand your pain."  
  
The small boy looked up shyly, peering from his clumps of golden bangs. "R-  
really?" There was a hopeful touch to his question, almost desperately reaching,   
seeking for a means of comfort.   
  
And the man let the boy fall perfectly into his hands. "I too went through the   
same suffering." He lied, glibly smiling. "I truly don't want to see you hurt anymore.   
Come with me, and I'll help you forget your pain. I will show you true _happiness_."  
  
Yuugi was young and naïve. The small boy felt his barriers of resentment melt   
under the man's influence. At last, he nodded, placing his last dregs of trust into the   
red-suited man, drawing comfort from the other's support. Shyly, he offered a hand   
for the man to take, like he had done so many times before with his now-forgotten   
mother.   
  
The man smiled, graciously taking the hand and placing it gently into his own.   
"Allow me to introduce myself," He locked eyes with the other, giving a polite bow.   
"You may call me…. Pegasus. All my friends do."  
  
The small boy nodded once again, blushing slightly in gratification. "Thank   
you Pegasus."  
  
Yuugi never saw the other's hidden sneer.   
  
************************************  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
End notes:  
  
Sorry it was so short, but as I said, this is a PROLOGUE. The first chapter shall come   
out sometime in the next couple of weeks. I have an idea, but not the brain *thud*.  
  
Next time  
-Yuugi, meet Ryou  
-A virtual BEWD plushie to anyone who can figure out _what_ Pegasus is!  
  
The rating will be UPPED next time to R, cause yes, I'm attempting another sad go at a  
yaoi subplot… 


	2. Opus 1

Author's notes:  
  
Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh I own naught.   
  
My virtual BEWD plushies go out to Neo-Queen Rini,Osiris Dragon, Angel/Demon guardian,   
jeti, Anime-05, KAylen, lily22, and Yami-kun for solving the riddle: Pegasus is a   
vampire ;). A REBD plushie goes to everyone to waited so long for this fic~   
... I've really got to make my next challenge question harder...  
  
'Nocturne in C minor' is an actual piano piece by Frederick Chopin. It is _not_   
friendly for small hands @.@ Very beautiful though, definitely worth listening to~  
  
Warning: Suggestions of sexual abuse, mild violence.  
  
****************************************  
  
Opus 01: Descent  
His mother had spoken about them in Faerie's Tales. They were sketched with   
syllables, painted by the vibrant palette of imagination. She had spoken of large   
kingdoms with castles and knights in full regalia. The sky would always be blue and   
there would be trees swathed in all shades of emerald green.   
  
Perhaps that was why they were called Faerie's Tales. For Yuugi saw not   
glistening ivory castles but stark black walls. They stretched spider-like into turrets   
and jagged walls to blend into the darker sky.   
  
This was the setting of nightmares. Trees lurked on all sides of the small boy and   
extended vain branches as if seeking to drain his youth. The ground was parched and   
split in a million perforations.   
  
Pegasus remained unpreturbed. The silver-haired gentleman confidently faced   
the bared walls and spiked turrets. He pulled open the iron gates ensnared around the   
ebony castle.   
  
Yuugi hesitated. His heart was pounding too fast and he suddenly felt very   
exposed and vulnerable. "A-are you sure we're at the right place?" He tried to keep   
his lips from trembling.   
  
"This is my place." Pegasus confirmed, watching Yuugi's expression falter from   
fear to despair. "Do you not trust me?"   
  
The small boy gulped and mustered his last dregs of courage. Unwilling to   
trust his mouth, he simply nodded.   
  
The silver-haired man asked no more. He sauntered towards the large iron-  
clad doors and knocked on them twice with his bone-white knuckles. The sound   
remained a still note in the air.   
  
At last the doors pulled open. A non-descript person stood waiting inside,   
body poised upright like a statue. He gave a brief nod when Pegasus passed through   
the doorway.   
  
Yuugi jumped as the door closed behind him. He resisted the urge to cling to   
the silver-haired man and instead, diverted his attention to the surroundings within the   
castle.   
  
Unlike his nightmares, the lair was well-furnished. The entire layout had a   
Victorian appeal to it; tables and chairs elaborately carved, large gothic-styled   
columns penetrating from the ground in symmetrical patterns.   
  
Pegasus gestured to another attendant. He exchanged slight conversation with   
the servant before turning back to Yuugi. The silver-haired man's eyes flashed eerily   
in the light. "I have some business to take care of, Yuugi. My most trusted servant,   
Croquet, shall take you somewhere to rest."  
  
Yuugi forced himself to look straight into Pegasus's eye. His expression   
bordered fear and uncertainty. "You wont leave, will you?"  
  
That seemed to amuse the silver-haired man. "Of course not. I'll be inside this   
castle at all times, just down the hallway. I'll come back soon."  
  
The small boy forced himself to be satisfied by that comment. Pegasus was   
coming back. He would be safe, even in this forlorn phantasm. Yuugi continued to   
gaze at Pegasus's retreating form until the silver-haired man disappeared into the   
shadows. The small boy then obligingly followed Croquet.   
  
The servant lead Yuugi down several winding hallways and staircases until he   
came at last to a sealed door. It was a door wrought in pure steel, glistening a dull   
silver. A simple handle adorned its bleak obsidian face.   
  
Croquet pulled out a set of keys and shoved one into the padlock guarding the   
door. He twisted it violently before pulling on the handle.  
"Come. This way please." Croquet's hand gestured towards the darkness past the door.   
  
Yuugi kept his feet rooted firmly to the carpet. He made no gesture of moving.   
"I-I can't go in." the small boy turned away, breathing in shallow, uneasy gasps. "I-  
I'm afraid of the darkness."  
  
Like a mechanical robot, Croquet pressed his hand on a panel hidden in the   
shadows. Immediately the room burst into light. The servant plodded into the room   
without bothering to register Yuugi's relief. How he heard the small boy's nearly-  
silent footsteps behind him remained a mystery.   
  
Yuugi rubbed his eyes a few times to adjust to the harsh light. For a few   
seconds as he stumbled blindly behind Croquet, he could only see splotches of pink   
and blue plaguing his vision. They soon disappeared to leave behind the room's actual   
contents. The small boy's eyes widened in shock.   
  
If Croquet noticed Yuugi's appalled expression, he treated it no differently.   
Instead he relied on his words to retrieve the information. "What do you see in front   
of you?"  
  
Yuugi shrank back in horror. He bit back a sob of anguish. "W-what is this   
place?" The boy could not tear his eyes away from the sight.   
  
Instead of answering, Croquet only stated his question again. "What do you   
see in front of you?"  
  
The room was made of cages. Each shadowy figure lay in a cubicle less than   
three meters wide. Some moved restlessly in their limited confines while other stared   
despairingly at the ceiling. The majority sleeping or unconscious. The faces were the   
most terrible. They were all contorted in anguish and hopelessness.   
  
Yuugi turned around to try and escape this purgatory, only to have Croquet   
wrench his arm and force him to remain still.   
  
"What do you see?" The servant repeated for the third time.  
  
Eyes watering, Yuugi fixated his eyes on the bland tiles on the ground. "It's a   
prison. There's people in there. Lots of them." The boy's shoulder's began to shake   
uncontrollably. He took a few trembling gasps before attempting to continue. "The   
people in the cages are children just like me."  
  
Croquet said nothing. Perhaps he was only a machine for he lacked emotion.   
  
"What is this place?" Yuugi repeated his whispered words louder. "What is   
this place?!" The small boy clenched his fists angrily at looked up towards the   
servant. "I don't see any happiness here. There is only pain, and suffering." He   
nodded towards the army of caged children. "There is no hope here."  
  
"Then you see them." Croquet spoke as if his words answered everything.   
"You are one of them."  
  
He shouldn't have trusted Pegasus. Yuugi shook his head in regret. Tears fell   
from the sides of his face to dance in the still air. "Get me out of here. I d-don't want   
to be here anymore."  
  
For the first time, Croquet's face contorted in genuine emotion. His mouth   
curved into a smile void of sympathy. "Did you really think that you had a choice? No   
one who enters this place leaves." He mock-bowed to Yuugi. "I welcome you, Yuugi,  
to Master Pegasus's kingdom."  
  
That was all Yuugi heard before he was tossed into a cage and knocked   
senseless.   
  
***********************************  
  
Yuugi's head throbbed painfully. He forced his failing eyesight to adjust to his   
surroundings.   
  
A semi-translucent grey wall faced him in all sides and oppressed his vision.   
The small boy brought a hand to touch the barrier only to recoil it back as jolts of   
electricity snarled at his fingers upon contact. He nursed his wounded hand by his side   
and craned his neck to look for a flaw, some type of escape, from this enclosure. No   
such luck.   
  
There was nothing he could do but wait. Yuugi bitterly replayed   
in his mind all the trust and false hope he had placed on Pegasus. He remembered the   
lost, betrayed looks on the other prisoners in their cages, and wondered if they too   
were once as innocent and trusting as him. The small boy peered outside his   
enclosure, but could not see anything in the murky half-darkness. Even the lilting   
moans and whines were drowned out by a consistent electrical hum.   
  
Yuugi waited in a half-crouched position for what seemed like eternity. He   
continued to sit there absorbed in his bitterness, ignoring everything else.  
  
It wasn't until someone tapped Yuugi gently on the shoulder that the small   
boy turned around. His dull violet eyes registered his visitor immediately. The pain,   
loss, and absolute hatred began flowing through his veins with renewed intensity.   
  
"You!" Yuugi spat the word out in a harshness unmatching of his figure.   
"You- you _lied_ to me. You left me here, in this cage and watched me suffer."  
  
Pegasus's once-bland face was full of sympathy. His single chestnut eye   
reflected pain and apprehension and he bit his lip in what seemed like regret. "I'm   
really sorry, Yuugi. I told Croquet to bring you somewhere to stay, but I didn't know   
that he would bring you here" Pegasus smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. I have  
punished Croquet for what he has done to you."  
  
And suddenly, Yuugi felt all his hatred become directed to Croquet. Yes, it   
was Croquet who had sent him here, and Croquet who had laughed at his words. He   
shouldn't have doubted Pegasus for a moment. Pegasus really did care for him but   
was too busy. Everything was okay now. Pegasus was here and Croquet was   
punished.   
  
Even though those words chanted again and again in Yuugi's mind, it felt   
wrong. Why couldn't he believe them? There was something important he was   
neglecting, drowned out by the chorus of false reassurances.   
  
Yuugi frowned. "Why am I here Pegasus?"  
  
"You are special Yuugi." The silver-haired man ignored the question   
completely. "You are perfect and beautiful. Everyone admires you."  
  
The compliments clashed like cymbals in Yuugi's ears but he ignored the   
whispers of promise and power. "Stop it Pegasus. This isn't a game anymore." He   
stamped his foot angrily on the cold stone ground. "Tell me why I'm here!"  
  
Pegasus stopped. And as quickly as they came, the chanting words, full of   
passion and conviction whirling around in Yuugi's mind withdrew. The boy could   
hear his own thoughts now. They whispered nothing but deception and betrayal.   
  
"So your will is strong." The silver-haired man suddenly extended a hand to   
grab Yuugi by the face. He pinched his forefinger and thumb to force the boy's chin   
upwards.   
  
Yuugi could feel Pegasus's breath on his face. It carried with a tangy and   
bittersweet scent. The boy wriggled his body in attempts to move away, but Pegasus's   
fingers only dug deeper into his chin.   
  
"I was once like you." The silver-haired man enjoyed the fear radiating from   
the boy. He leaned closer so that his face gazed powerfully down at Yuugi. "Innocent,   
naïve, charming. And then I lost someone close to me."  
  
Yuugi involuntarily shuddered as he felt something wet slide down his cheek.   
It took him a moment longer to realize that the other was licking him roughly. The   
boy immediately opened his mouth to scream, but choked as Pegasus clamped his jaw   
shut. The cry died halfway in his mouth.   
  
"Darkness consumed me. I became bitter and angry at the world." The silver-  
haired man lowered his head so that his nose grazed Yuugi's neck. He began to caress   
his lips against the boy's soft, exposed skin, blatantly ignoring Yuugi's muffled   
protests. "So I came up with a solution. If I could not get what I wanted, then no one   
would. I would create an army of darkness and let my hatred become an empire."  
  
Pegasus's fingers were creating bruises on Yuugi's fragile chin. The small boy   
choked back another sob and thrashed as hard as he could. The other easily oppressed him.   
  
"You should feel honoured." The silver-haired man was engrossed in his   
ritual. "You are one of my chosen ones. A child, soon to be one with the night and   
darkness. You will become part of my army."  
  
Absolutely revolted, Yuugi shoved his arms against Pegasus's head and   
pushed as hard as he could. His jaw was momentarily freed. The small boy took in a   
few sharp gasps and spat each syllable out with vehemence "Let me go."  
  
The silver-haired man threw his head back and laughed. His voice resounded   
off the walls in thick, mocking barks. "Such insolence." Déjà vu whirled in Yuugi's  
mind. "You _sold_ your soul to me when you trusted me back then."  
  
The boy was cut off from all protests. His eyes widened as he watched   
Pegasus bare his mouth and reveal for the first time twin sets of sharp ivory incisors.   
They glistened wickedly in the half-darkness.   
  
Everything else was lost to a blur of motion.  
  
There was a sudden jolt of pain along Yuugi's neck; the twinge collecting into   
burning pools of agony. The boy remained oblivious to the incisors buried deeply into his neck.   
He was only aware of Pegasus's lips pressed against his skin. His body began to convulse  
uncontrollably, violet eyes glazed and void of their lustre. He did even not register his own  
blood dribbling down the other's face or splattering silently back onto his soft skin.   
Everything was disappearing save the pain.   
  
Now Yuugi was on the verge of unconsciousness. His vision faded in and   
out, accompanied by flashing splotches of blindness. Just before he collapsed   
completely, he felt something warm against his own lips. It trickled into his mouth   
and he tasted it involuntarily. It had a bitter and metallic aftertaste.   
  
More and more of this liquid continued to pool into the boy's limp mouth, but   
he refused to swallow it. It wasn't until the other pinched his nose that he   
involuntarily inhaled, coughing and choking weakly as the substance flew like liquid   
fire down his throat. Again and again the ritual was completed until the boy felt   
completely immersed in the sticky, vile substance. His stomach heaved weakly and he   
wanted to retch the offending taste from his system, but someone else had forced his   
mouth close. The liquid collected in pools of cold fire in his stomach.   
  
How bitterly he wished that he would at last fall into unconsciousness and not   
live through this half-conscious nightmare. The pain was in each and every of his   
nerves and greedily tore at his flesh like millions of daggers. Through half-closed lids,   
Yuugi could see Pegasus muttering something to another vague figure.   
  
He could hear the triumphant laughing just before unconsciousness finally   
claimed him.  
  
…Or did he claim unconsciousness?  
  
************************************  
  
Pegasus brushed a stray strand of silver hair from his face. The lower half was   
sticky and still covered in blood. He absently fiddled with the lock of hair, sucking   
out the crimson coating before tossing it behind his ears.   
  
Croquet bowed as Pegasus looked his direction. The servant carried with him   
a strange pyramid-shaped relic resting on a luxurious velvet cushion. He extended his   
arms out to offer Pegasus the object.   
  
"Ah yes. The Millennium Puzzle." Pegasus grinned and took the mentioned   
object off from the cushion. The relic twisted around the cord tied to it, face glittering   
every shade of gold. "It is said to have a special power. The spirit of an undefeatable   
strategist. One who is born and reborn again and again, fated to continue this cycle   
until it finds the destined host."  
  
Croquet said nothing. He had learned that it was easier keeping his mouth   
shut.   
  
"The Millennium Puzzle is mine." Pegasus continued talking as if Croquet did   
not exist. "But it cannot remain unused forever." The silver-haired man daintily   
clasped the bulky relic in both hands as if to analyze it for any flaws. He glibly pried   
open the cord and slipped it around the unconscious boy's neck. The sudden flare   
from the Puzzle did not escape Pegasus's sharp eye.  
  
"Yes," the silver-haired man began to chuckle deeply. "This boy is one of the   
Chosen ones. I grant him the power of the Millennium Puzzle in exchange for his   
soul."  
  
Thick peals of laughter echoed throughout the palace.   
  
********************************************  
  
He did not even bother looking up as the door slid open. In his cage of   
nothingness, it didn't matter. This was his sacrifice. He had agreed to this so long ago.   
  
Someone was sliding his cage door open, letting a woosh of chill air break into   
his stagnant surroundings. A trickle of light escaped from the opening to capture a   
sliver of his dazzling snow-white hair.   
  
He squinted as the light grew stronger until it encompassed his cage entirely.   
Involuntarily bringing a hand to his eyes, he shrank backwards into his enclosure.  
  
It was time again.   
  
Even without hope or conviction, he still struggled. His dull brown eyes   
flickered with momentary denial as he backed into the very recesses of his cage and   
curled into a pitiful ball. Tendrils of soft white hair curled around his face, the rest   
sliding down his back.   
  
"Come out Ryou." The oppressor was taunting him. "You know that it's   
useless."  
  
A small whimper escaped from his throat. He shook his head vehemently.  
  
"I've got something for you." The oppressor turned around so that his silver   
hair swayed around his shoulders. He then held out a bowl towards the caged boy.   
"Don't you want some, Ryou?" His single unconcealed eye glittered malevolently.  
  
A twinge of yearning ricocheted through his chest. Something hanging around   
Ryou's neck began to glimmer softly with a light of its own. It was a strange circular   
medallion, with a triangular shape welded in the center. Sharpened platelets hung   
from its rim.   
  
The oppressor, better known as Pegasus, gave a mock bow. His eye glanced   
viciously at the boy as if seeing Ryou's internal struggle. "I'll place it right here." The   
silver-haired man gently set the bowl down on the smooth cage bottom, spilling some   
of its contents onto his fingers. He carelessly licked them clean before closing the   
cage completely. Light still filtered from the semi-opaque enclosure walls.   
  
Ryou stayed in his position a few moments longer. He let his taut chest rise   
and fall in jagged gasps. Beads of cold sweat trickled down his pale face. The boy   
knew he was fighting as losing battle. Pegasus was calling him. The _other_, the   
presence residing like a shadow in his soul was rising.   
  
The white-haired boy's eyes glanced involuntarily at the bowl laid in front of   
him. It was filled to the brim with a thick, crimson substance. He could envision it   
still warm and untouched.   
  
At last the final bars of his will collapsed entirely. His resigned frown broke   
into a sadistic smile, flaunting a pair of fangs that rested on top of his lower lip. Eyes   
narrowed predatorily, he suddenly shot up from his fetal position and grabbed the   
bowl. The startlingly red contents dribbled down his chin as he drank deeply. Even   
when he had finished he still ran his tongue along the smooth porcelain as if to lick   
off the aftertaste.   
  
The door to the cage re-opened once again.   
  
"I presume you're ready?" Pegasus's voice was coldly indifferent.   
  
He bared his fangs in anticipation, white hair bristling at unnaturally jagged   
angles around his face.   
  
********************************  
  
The city was dark at nighttime. Random homeless people slunk in the corners   
underneath their cardboard and newspapers. Flickering lamplights faded in and out as   
they cast their orange glow on the paved roads and sidewalks. The light occasionally   
struck graffiti-torn walls or crumbling brick enclosures.  
  
He lifted his head smell the still night air. There was someone else out here;   
another one like him. He angrily gritted his teeth, dark brown eyes gazing wildly   
around him. He did not like competitors.   
  
The shadowy figure began to run at a neck breaking pace, feet plodding   
silently over roads and alleyways. Flickers of orange light struck his figure at odd   
intervals to reveal a handsome-looking youth with startling white hair.   
  
The scent was growing stronger now. He sharply turned another corner,   
coiling his leg muscles and soaring winglessly into the sky to land on the closest   
rooftop. He balanced gracefully on the tiles before taking off again onto the next   
overlook. Again and again he repeated this procedure, travelling like liquid lightning,   
a single shadow illuminated against the midnight-blue sky. The moon shimmered   
overhead and cast a weak glow against his figure.   
  
At last he reached his destination. He hesitated for just a moment before   
jumping off his rooftop trajectory and onto the ground once more. His opponent was   
somewhere around this block.   
  
There.   
  
His competitor walked with an air of inexperience and hesitation.  
  
He snarled. He wouldn't let some _amateur_ replace him! The white-haired   
figure strode towards this usurper and grabbed him angrily by the shoulders.   
  
The other turned around, more offended then intimidated. He had a crown of   
startling scarlet-black hair. Streaks of jagged gold hair mixed with the ebony-red,   
ended in bangs curled around his face. His eyes were a pure undiluted maroon.   
  
The first did not wait for the other to recover. "Only I hunt on this day." his   
dark-brown eyes burned accusingly. "Why did he send you out?"  
  
"'He'?" the other seemed just as confused. "If you mean Pegasus, I was told to   
come out here and fulfill some rather sadistic mission." The crimson-black haired   
figure brushed a tongue over his fangs. "As for why, I am unsure. I guess I _must_ do   
it because I have been instructed so."  
  
"Who are you?" The white-haired figure's voice stung with accusation. "I've   
never seen you before."  
  
The other gave a resigned sigh. "No. I was newly… converted, if that is the   
right term to use. I gained a new awareness only an hour ago."  
  
The first smiled maliciously. "You are nameless. You have no clue on your   
true destiny do you?"  
  
"No." It was a blunt answer filled with confusion.   
  
"We are simply shadows." The white-haired figure let his words sink in. "We   
are darknesses, incomplete souls bonded to a human host. Our only destiny is to fulfill   
Pegasus's menial tasks. Pegasus controls all of us, and we obey him because we know   
he will bring about the new revolution."  
  
"Revolution?" The other repeated senselessly.   
  
"Yes. Our revolution. The revolution of the vampires. The enslavement of the   
humans." He paused. "Does your host have a name?"  
  
Blood-red eyes clouded in confusion. "What?" He was interrupted by a sudden   
strand of memory not his own. "Yuugi." It was then that the other's words hit him.   
"Then I'm just a-"  
  
"Puppet. I think I've already covered that." The first rolled his eyes in   
annoyance. "Listen, Yami-Yuugi. You keep out of my path, and I'll kindly stay out of   
yours. And try not to break any of Pegasus's rules. Too many of them make that   
mistake."  
  
Yami Yuugi. Dark Yuugi. The other's eyes lowered in acknowledgement of   
the name. "What are Pegasus's rules?"  
  
"Where's the fun if I told you? And before you ask me, I would be Yami-  
Ryou, though most know me by Yami-Bakura." The white-haired vampire watched   
the other's lips form a silent 'oh'. He enjoyed messing around with this confused   
creature's mind. For a vampire, the other was humorously naïve. "Perhaps we'll meet   
again. If you live that long."   
  
Yami-Yuugi could still hear the maniacal laughter long after the other   
disappeared. He frowned and began walking again.   
****************************************  
  
End notes:  
  
After a couple months of death, Nocturne rises again. Half-dead, but oh well. And   
before you guys complain about a possible sadistic streak, I will warn you that   
Nocturne is a vampire fic. That means blood. Lots of it *grins*  
  
Next time:  
-Still confused, Yami-Yuugi has his first encounters with a human.   
-Vampires = blood lust? The unfortunate weakness all vampires have  
-Watch Zoo try to create a plot twist to break the standards we all hold for   
vampire yaoi -_-;;; 


End file.
